Shekhar Kapur missed Dev Anand's funeral

Nephew Shekhar Kapur says he was unable to attend London funeral as it was planned too late. His legion of fans, not to mention the entire film industry, missed veteran actor Dev Anand’s last rites in London.

Widely regarded as one of the biggest stars of Hindi cinema, Anand passed away on December 4, following a major heart attack. Reports emerged that the funeral would take place in the UK itself. A week later, on December 10, the actor-director was cremated.

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Now, it seems that many of his family members too didn’t make it to pay their last respects. Quiz his nephew, director Shekhar

Kapur, who attended the memorial service at Mehboob Studios in Bandra on December 16, on why he missed his uncle’s cremation despite the one-week notice, and he says, “It (the funeral) was a very last minute decision. And so many of our family members couldn’t make it in time to London.”

Shekhar, who made a name for himself with path-breaking films like Masoom (1983), followed by popular sci-fi film Mr India (1987) and the Phoolan Devi biopic Bandit Queen (1994), owes his fame to his uncle. “He gave me my first break. Whatever I have achieved is because him,” admits Shekar, who made his debut as an actor with Anand’s directorial venture, Ishq Ishq Ishq (1974).

Interestingly, Anand wrote, directed and funded his own projects till the end, even though most of them bombed at the box-office. His last release was Chargesheet, which released this year to dismal critical reviews and poor earnings.

Ask Kapur whether he mourns the loss of the prolific cinematic icon and he says, “He was my uncle and was part of my family. To me, this is more the loss of a very special family member.”